Mongolia-China humanitarian exchange council holds first meeting

On January 25, Mongolia and China exchanged views on bilateral cooperation in the humanitarian sector during the First Meeting of the Mongolia-China Joint Council on Humanitarian Exchange held in Beijing, China.

The two countries agreed to establish a Joint Council during the visit of Mongolia’s Prime Minister in 2017 with an aim to elevate Mongolia-China cooperation and friendly relations to a new level in education, culture, science, the youth exchange, health, sports, media, television and cinema, tourism, labor and social protection.

As Head of the Mongolian part in the Joint Council, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs D.Davaasuren co-chaired the meeting with Kong Xuanyou, Assistant Foreign Minister of China. During the First Meeting, bilateral delegations discussed the Council’s activities and plans for 2018, the implementation of which will be addressed at the next meeting to be held in Ulaanbaatar.

D.Davaasuren said, “Humanitarian exchange between our two countries is not only highly important to bilateral, but also regional cooperation. We believe that establishment of an implementing mechanism will increase the productivity of the Council. The main impetus of cooperation will be in the humanitarian sector. In particular, we’ve talked about the establishment of a Mongolian Cultural Center in Beijing for many years. This should be put into action. As the 2022 Winter Olympics will be hosted by Beijing, necessity to cooperate in physical culture and sports is rising. We have a lot to do in regard to the development of tourism, especially border tourism, by utilizing the advantage of our relations. The role of media is imperative in strengthening the mutual trust between nations; therefore, this sector needs consistent attention. 2019 will mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our two countries. With that in mind, I am sure that we will be able to review and analyze the main outcome of the First Meeting in Ulaanbaatar in 2019. The Mongolian part is committed to strengthening bilateral people-to-people friendly relations and mutual trust through the Joint Council.”

D.Garid, Head of Department of External Affairs of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sport expressed his view saying “In the past, our two countries have actively cooperated in education and culture, especially in personnel training and organizing mutual cultural events. Building on this, we are interested in cooperating in the areas of personnel training professions in real demand, co-production of film and drama and networking between Mongolian start-up businesses and Chinese businesses.”

S.Bat-Erdene, Head of Department of Tourism Policy Management at the Ministry of Environment and Tourism proposed to intensify Mongolia-China border tourism, launch a joint study and determine a tour route and develop a Tea Road Mongolia-Russia-China International Tourism Association by utilizing the trilateral Tourism Ministers’ Meeting.

S.Tungalagtamir, Head of Department of Population Development at the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection expressed the Ministry’s readiness to establish an MoU on humanitarian cooperation in the areas of population, labor and social protection; and cooperate on exporting products made by the disabled to foreign markets, run an elders’ exchange program, share experience in health resort, and cooperate on training of staff to assist the disabled.

N.Oyunbat, Head of the Division of External Affairs at the Physical Culture and Sports Authority touched on cooperation between the corresponding sports organizations at the international platform, broadening bilateral exchange in winter sports in anticipation of the 2022 Beijing Olympics and expert exchange between national teams and in sports medicine.

The Culture and Arts Department of the capital city was represented by its head J.Damdintseren, who conveyed interests in the continuation of Cultural Week event between Ulaanbaatar and the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region of China, organizing Mongolian and Chinese Cultural Days in Ulaanbaatar and Beijing in 2018 and 2019 in dedication to the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations, organizing an introductory trip on tourism products, cooperating with Hohhot on traditional medicine, and activating exchanges of teachers and students.

Sh.Batbold, Deputy Director of MONTSAME requested to renew the cooperation agreement between Mongolia's national news agency and Chinese Xinhua news agency, while citing the increasing opportunities for media cooperation as bilateral relations flourish. “As a national news agency with the designated task of promoting Mongolia abroad, MONTSAME is ready to develop cooperation with other Chinese media outlets,” he said, expressing the agency’s interest in supplying news on Mongolia and short-term mutual exchange of journalists writing in Mongolian and Chinese languages for improvement of their language proficiency, learning from technological advancement and sharing knowledge and experience.

For his part, Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said, “During the 2014 visit of President Xi Zinping to Mongolia, we agreed to intensify bilateral humanitarian exchange since many works have been done. The Joint Council will be a bridge for communication in planning and implementation of works within the bilateral humanitarian exchange. We are ready to support the proposals Mongolia brought forward at this meeting. It will be effective if the exchanges and activities of the certain year are discussed and planned at the secretary meeting-level.”

During the First Meeting, the sides agreed to realize more than 40 joint projects and events in 2018 including:

Mongolia-China student exchange scholarship program

Cultural and Humanitarian Forum within the Belt and Road initiative

Exhibiting historical and cultural artifacts related to Mongolian history that are kept in China in Mongolia

Advancing the works on co-registration of Mongolian-Chinese cultural heritages within the cooperation mechanism on conservation of intangible cultural heritages of Mongolia and China

Exchange of concerts between the theaters of the two countries

Strengthening of high-level visits on health sector

Development of bilateral cooperation in traditional medicine

Assisting Mongolia in media staff training

Implementation of the 5-year plan on youth exchange, agreed during the visit of Chinese President to Mongolia in 2014, within which 50 Chinese and 100 Mongolian young people will make mutual visits.

Sh.BatboldThis story was published on the Mongol Messenger's 5th issue, dated February 2.